Do high school players need a UTR?

You might be surprised to know that high school tennis players don’t need a national ranking to play tennis at the college level.

Yes, to get a full-ride scholarship to a Division I tennis program requires a high skill level and usually a USTA ranking. However, there are thousands of opportunities to play tennis at DII, DIII, NAIA and Junior College schools.

Some schools offer full athletic scholarships, many offer partial scholarships, and some coaches arrange for academic scholarships for their players. Many colleges and universities have non-scholarship tennis teams, offering students who aren’t highly ranked the chance to continue playing tennis.

What is UTR?

Previously, college coaches used USTA rankings exclusively (along with video and letters of reference) to rate potential players for their programs. College coaches did not include high school tennis matches because they were not entered into a computer system, providing a comparative ranking. For example, if Bobby Smith beat Danny Jones in a USTA-sanctioned tournament, that meant something to a college coach. If Bobby Smith beat Danny Jones in a high school match, that had little or no meaning to coaches because the match might have included coaching, used no-ad scoring, been a pro set, etc.

The new Universal Tennis Rating system records high school tennis matches throughout the season, giving college coaches more access to the results of high school players who don’t play USTA tournaments. Players who play USTA tournaments also have those matches automatically entered into the UTR system by UTR, so there’s no extra work. This gives college coaches even more information to work with.

As a high school coach, you can claim your team at the UTR website and start entering match scores.

How Does it Work?

Coaches sign their teams up for UTR and enter individual player scores after each match. The results go into a national database that is updated each time matches are entered by coaches across the country.

Help your Players

By participating in the UTR system, you will help your players get more access to college team play opportunities at all levels, whether they are scholarship offers or just making the team.

Record Challenge Matches

If you need to record challenge matches for your district or state association, you can enter them into the UTR system. They won’t count as “official” UTR matches, but you’ll have a convenient way to put challenge match results online.

The USHSTA does not receive money or goods from UTR. This new system is getting more and more endorsements from tennis bodies and is something that high school players who want to play at the collegiate level should use.